


april

by darlingtimes



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, kiddos is veery vague because frankly i don't know either, set when august and chikage are kiddos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26591668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingtimes/pseuds/darlingtimes
Summary: August finds his very first recruit.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 33





	april

**Author's Note:**

> some mild content warning for glass used as a weapon, implications of an abusive household, and also a bit of blood. you know, gekkagumi stuff. uhhh hope you enjoy!!

“How do I know you’re not gonna steal my stuff or rat me out so you can run?”

August lay on the floor with his mouth agape, broken glass pressed to his neck by the younger boy holding him down. He thought, not for the first time, _I’m really not mission material, I wish I was back at my lab, this random boy would be better at infiltration than me—hey, this boy would be better at infiltration than me!_

Before he knew it, he blurted, “Do you want to join my organization?”

“Your what?”




The situation was about a hair better than it was a few minutes ago. Now August was sitting up and restrained, hands tied in a clumsy but relatively effective mess of knots. Relatively effective, but not quite effective enough—August got to work on loosening them.

“Speak up. You said you get paid?”

“Well, yeah, basically. A lifetime deal! Free necessities, you never go hungry! Plus any benefits and income that come with your cover job, too, but that gets better when you look older than a teenager. Um, is it okay that we’re doing this in the bedroom? I heard the door open downstairs...”

“’S fine, she passes out dead for a day whenever she comes home from a new guy's,” the other green-haired boy spat out as he rummaged through the drawers. “At least this one bought her real gold, I don't need to fool the buyer… What’s the job?”

August watched as he pulled out hidden jewelry and shoved them in his bag, both haphazard and sure of himself. It looked like he'd stolen from here before, which was a little strange, paired with the comments implying that he lived here, too. August could guess why, though.

“I can’t tell you that ‘til you join. But I promise it’s a good deal. Also, you’d be on my team, since that’s how our recruiting system works! That’d be nice, ‘cause right now I’m all alone, and once we’re on the same team we stick together through it all… like a family!”

He smiled as he remembered what the Head told him—the Organization might work you hard, but it always pays back double through the connections you make and the free time you spend. As far as he’d seen and experienced in the the years he’d joined, it was true—even if he had to go out at night in the rain like this and get tied up by some boy, he also got to walk through market streets in the sunlight and buy sweets when he was off-duty. Or moving between duties, since again, they worked you hard, but the point still stood.

“What is it, some dumb street gang? I’ll pass. I already have a sucky family, I don’t need another one with a blabbermouth like you.”

“It's not dumb, and I’m not—!” August huffed indignantly. Done with the rope around his wrist, he discreetly pulled his hands free and looked around the room again for what he came for.

The files really were strewn haphazardly on the nightstand like the mission brief said they'd be, just as messy as the bottles and clothes on the floor. He wasn’t told exactly what they held—something to do with money again, he assumed—but it looked like the keeper of them didn’t care too much about keeping them safe. Well, that made things easier for him.

He could sprint for them and be out the window before the other boy knew it, but… The boy would fit right in, and he would _definitely_ be quick on the physical uptake with how he overtook August like that. He had a glint of anger in his eye that came with fighting to live alone, a glint that was familiar to August.

Taking a more serious tone, August said determinedly, “It’s better, I promise. You don’t need anybody in your life but yourself and your team. You… You don’t need to stay in a town like this, because you get sent everywhere and do lots of things. You can be another person and live another life.”

At the last statement, August could see the boy hesitate, his back stilling for the slightest moment as he filled his bag with goods. But time was ticking.

Standing up and swiftly moving to the nightstand, August grabbed what he came to the dingy old house for. He stepped over to the boy and leaned down, whispering, “The offer’s open. I’ll be waiting at the back of the fruit stand two streets down tomorrow afternoon and the day after if you want to join.”

Before the boy could whip around and stop him, he was outside of the window frame and on the street.




August sat on the fruit boxes, swinging his legs absentmindedly. It’d been a few days, and he was still waiting when he could. The sky was cloudy again, and the ground was dotted with stray raindrops.

He hoped the boy came. That way he wouldn’t be alone, right? August knew what that was like, and that's why he found a new place. The Organization was a chance for something like a better family, though unless you were on the same team, you didn’t know anybody too well.

It was probably going to pour any minute, and the sun was almost setting, so August figured he’d go back to his base for the day. Maybe tomorrow…

Just as he thought that, he heard footsteps coming from the north end of the street—where the boy’s house was, if that was his house.

He shut his eyes tight for a second and wished that when he opened them, it’d be the boy, then looked.

It was him. His plain clothes were offset by the bright red blood flowing down his arm, and he was quickly making his way towards August. At the sight, August immediately hopped off the box to meet him halfway.

“Are you okay?!” The boy stiffened when August grabbed his arm, but let him examine it.

“Fine, this is nothing. Turned out the new guy’s temper is a million times worse with a hangover than when he’s drunk is all. Your group thing? I want in, I’m sick of it here.” His words were harsh, but his voice sounded forced. August glanced at his face, and it was screwed up—with simple rage or some other mash of emotions, he couldn’t tell.

“You’re in, but first, let me patch you up. I have some bandages with me… Ah, it’s raining. Let’s get under the tarp.” He turned to bring the boy with him, and like an afterthought, finished with, “Call me August, now that you’re part of us.”




“Any last questions before all the big ones get answered during training?” August asked as they walked back towards the base.

Bluntly, the boy said, “Why me?”

August tilted his head in thought for a second, though it was more for show than anything else. He already knew the answer. “You looked like you had grit and could do something for us. I mean, you jumped me and had me on the floor with glass to my neck in a second! We always need some physical ability, I’m better with the brain stuff. And, I thought you’d be a good part of my family.”

“Family again? What’s with you and that… Weird,” he muttered.

At that, August only smiled. “When’s your birthday? Our code names are easy, so might as well tell me yours now.”

“...Today.”

“Today?! Happy birthday! April, then! Ahh, I wonder if we can pull together a celebration… What’s your favorite food, April?”

“Spicy. Chili pepper, any food with spices.”

August made a face. “Not cake? I thought kids liked sweet stuff. _I_ like sweet stuff.”

“No way.”

“Okay, then. I think we can whip something up, maybe. We have meat, that goes with spices, right?” August hummed happily, already comfortable with April by his side.




April glanced at the alien boy beside him. August was unbelievably cheerful, and it was hard to feel apprehensive around him.

He was April, now. If the Organization wasn’t some lie, that is. But the new name didn’t feel terrible, not the way August said it; whenever the witch or whatever guy she had around called his name, it was only ever to complain or worse. He’d learned to make himself scarce the second he heard it.

He’d been thinking about running away for ages for so long, and now he finally did, running towards the sliver of a chance August gave to him. A new life, he was promised. A new family. What did that even mean? April didn’t know, but anything was better than _there._

Arm throbbing under his brand new bandages, April set his jaw and kept walking towards the "organization." He’d just have to see where August led him.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! and then they were family... writing chikage as a brat is so fun. he sounds like such a brat in hisoka's flashbacks and honestly, is still sort of one.


End file.
